price was one factor but I think it's feature set that is also attracting a few people as well, built in PID, dual stainless steal boilers, fairly generous water tank (2.5l I think it is - feels more like 3 once both boilers are filled), built in water filter (with about a years worth of spares provided), programmable pre-infusion (both time and pressure) good sized drip tray, built in shot clock timer and it doesn't look too bad either, then throw in basically a free grinder depending on where you buy it from and it's certainly got some appeal.

Would anyone in this thread be interested in a coffee cupping evening?

I know our supplier (Burtons) has the capacity to do this, and we could host 20 or so people in central Auckland. There'd be a small cost, if there is a decent amount of interest, I'll look at organising one.

nate: Would anyone in this thread be interested in a coffee cupping evening?

I know our supplier (Burtons) has the capacity to do this, and we could host 20 or so people in central Auckland. There'd be a small cost, if there is a decent amount of interest, I'll look at organising one.

So, coffee geeks, I'm in the market for a grinder upgrade from my present Mazzer Mini (dosered). If the budget went as high as $5K (basically I'll buy a top of the line full-size commercial grinder if need be), what would you recommend and why?

Things I'd like to have over the Mini are: dose consistency, low retention, extremely high quality grind free of clumping and with bullet-proof reproducibility.

Considering just getting a Mazzer Robur E and calling it a day... I do have a line on a Super Jolly E basically brand new for around $600 off retail, but unless it really nails the things I want I'm a bit concerned I'll just be turning around in 6months and upgrading again...

I think grind retention is always going to be around. Robur-E still had grind retention as with most machines. That being said, it probably wasn't as much as the Super Jolly (doser) I used to have. The last Mazzer I had was a Kony-E, which was pretty similar to the Robur-E, though a lot slower. I still encountered a fair bit of retention with the Kony-E but I think given the Mazzer design, you're still going to get a wee bit in the chute. Grind quality was nice though, and it generally had clump free and even grinds.

With pretty much all my machines, whether they be timer, on-off, or electronic, I've tended to single dose. So I will pre-weigh the beans, and then grind that, and that only. I tend not to fill the hopper with beans and use the electronic timing, unless I need to make a whole bunch of coffee in a short time-frame. But in those instances, the timing on the Mazzer electronics have been pretty consistent from my usage.

I'm currently using an Elektra Nino. Again, electronic, though I've found the retention to be a bit better than the Mazzers, though it does still retain a wee bit which is pretty easily flushed.

I guess most will say to go for a conical grinder, perhaps one of the titans like the Kony, Robur, K10, or even the Mazzer Kold which I see is starting to pop up. Not quite sure if it is available yet, but that looks interesting. All of them are overkill for home use, but they will certainly put a stop to upgrading rather quickly. General consensus does say they give better flavour to extractions, though unless you've got them side by side to a flat burr, it probably doesn't matter too much. They are all a heck of a lot bigger than the mini, so having enough room is another thing. Personally, I'd have tendency to go for large conical units - in my experience, they seem to give better grind consistency, and somehow fluffier clump free grinds. That being said, I would probably be happy with a Super Jolly-E or a Major-E, the preference being with the later of those two given it is nice and speedy.

Duty cycle is critical. Mazzer mini is rated 50/50 seconds - (run 50 seconds, rest 50 seconds). It takes about 25 seconds to grind a double shot. The duty cycle won't be because the motor will be at any risk of burning out, but because the machine warms up and tolerances will shift affecting grind. A Kony E can grind a kg of beans in the time it takes to grind 4 double shots using a mini (adhering to the 50/50 seconds duty cycle for the mini - it doesn't have a cooling fan). Grind retention isn't limited to what's clinging in the chute where you can easily brush it out, it's also in the burrs/grind chamber, bigger = more retention there.If you're not getting 100% consistent grind from a mini, subject to the 50/50 second duty cycle caution, then something is wrong with it - time for new burrs (must be OEM genuine - not "Ebay best price" quality), or to get the supplier to honour their 25 year warranty.

KiwiNZ: Just recently purchased a Nespresso Pixie, love it and the coffee

I've used Nespresso in hotel rooms and I like it.

SWMBO hates it though. Won't let me get one!

Don't ya hate it when that happens :P

I do. I usually ignore it when I can, but it's hard to camouflage a Nespresso machine...!

That would be a small problem - compared to what could be NZtechfreak's problem if his SWMBO wasn't keen on having a 30kg commercial coffee grinder on the bench.I just managed to sneak in with a 25kg espresso machine, and a 10kg grinder.

Fred99: Duty cycle is critical. Mazzer mini is rated 50/50 seconds - (run 50 seconds, rest 50 seconds). It takes about 25 seconds to grind a double shot. The duty cycle won't be because the motor will be at any risk of burning out, but because the machine warms up and tolerances will shift affecting grind. A Kony E can grind a kg of beans in the time it takes to grind 4 double shots using a mini (adhering to the 50/50 seconds duty cycle for the mini - it doesn't have a cooling fan). Grind retention isn't limited to what's clinging in the chute where you can easily brush it out, it's also in the burrs/grind chamber, bigger = more retention there.If you're not getting 100% consistent grind from a mini, subject to the 50/50 second duty cycle caution, then something is wrong with it - time for new burrs (must be OEM genuine - not "Ebay best price" quality), or to get the supplier to honour their 25 year warranty.

I just had the burrs replaced, no issues with consistency of the grind, the issue is clumping. Without a tiring degree of grooming (Weiss distribution etc) I am not satisfied with the quality of the resulting extractions. This is a problem for many with the Mini, I'm just not prepared to deal with it any longer and would rather have a machine less susceptible to the problem.